Don Fowler became chief executive officer of SumTotal Systems, Inc. in November 2005, guiding the strategy and overseeing the global operations of SumTotal.

From 1998 through 2005, Fowler was a director, mentor and advisor to a number of early stage tech firms. He helped CEOs and venture capitalists put programs in place to develop products, address legal issues, hire and retain employees, communicate with investors and drive sales.

From 1996 to 1998, Fowler was CEO of eT Communications, which made a communications product for monitoring alarms and remotely reading meters. He and his team secured the first of the company's customers and put the firm on a well-launched trajectory. In 1996, Fowler took the helm of Worlds, Inc., a maker of products for creating virtual reality spaces on the Internet, in an effort to turn the company around and sell it. He took sales at the firm from $1.5 million to $7.1 million in less than twelve months, raised $12 million in venture capital and sold the company.

Before that, he was senior vice president and general manager for the Solutions Products Group at Tandem Computers. During his time at Tandem, he oversaw a $700-million global business unit with 1,000 employees. He led his group in divesting a number of companies and acquiring others, while also playing a key role in communicating the value of these transactions to Wall Street investors.

From 1976 to 1986, he held numerous senior-level posts at Bechtel, an engineering and construction company with global operations. As CIO, he ran Bechtel's Information Services Group and created a profit center with over $350 million in revenue. Prior to Bechtel, Fowler spent 11 years with IBM, during which he climbed from systems engineer to being responsible for sales and support across the western United States.

He began his professional career with Boeing in 1960. While there, he and a colleague developed the world's first library search-and-retrieval computer system.

Fowler serves on the President's Cabinet at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as well as the executive committee. He received both his bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Washington.